In a balancing act, Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid said that while it was for the courts to decide as to who should be locked up, the dictum of bail being the rule and jail an exception has been laid down by the Supreme Court itself. Elaborating on his controversial statement that the judiciary needs to understand the ‘political economy’ in the country, Mr. Khurshid told PTI on Tuesday night that “it is not for me to lock up people, it is for the courts to decide”.

At the same time, he recalled that the Supreme Court had laid down the law “bail is the rule, jail is an exception”. The Law Minister was speaking in the backdrop of his comment, “if you lock up top businessmen, will investment come”, which was termed as “disturbing” by the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

Mr. Khurshid said his comments had nothing to do with the 2G case but agreed with the questioner that a lot of people think that many of those long detained in the scam had been deprived of their liberty.

In a changing society every institution has to respond to the demands of changing time and the courts had done that in the case of protection of environment for which they needed to be complimented.

Similarly, “the demands of our time are that we must appreciate what dissent is”, the minister said adding that it was the Supreme Court that had given bail to Maoist sympathiser Binayak Sen without saying that he was guiltless.

“They (the apex court) said he will be tried. If he is wrong he will be punished. But that is no no reason to keep him in prison. They gave him bail,” Mr. Khurshid said describing the order as “brilliant“. He went on to ask, “But when economic issues come does the Supreme Court pay the same attention to developing economic issues as the rest of us do”.

At a time when the judiciary is seized with cases concerning corruption, black money and the 2G spectrum scam, Law Minister Salman Khurshid has said that the judiciary needs to understand the “political economy” in the country.

Speaking to The Indian Express, he said: “What will affect the functioning of the government is if other institutions do not understand the kind of political economy we are faced with today: what is needed to encourage growth and investment? If you lock up top businessmen, will investment come? What optimal structure should be put in place for investment to come?”

Asked if he meant the judiciary when referring to “other institutions”, he replied: “Yes, judiciary is as important a player in the entire effort. Each of the three wings — judiciary, legislature and executive — has to understand the political economy and respond to it. The judiciary can’t be immune to the demands of society in changing times. The judiciary has been making positive interventions in the field of environment, fight against corruption, protection of human rights and social welfare, but it also has to understand the political economy.”

On why the UPA government has been increasingly facing flak from the judiciary, Khurshid said, “It’s not the entire judiciary. There are some judges who have felt that things need to be set right. Sometimes, we may not agree. For instance, we did not agree on the black money verdict and hence sought its recall. Two judges disagreed among themselves. These are difficult issues of political economy. We don’t blame the judges for getting it wrong. On certain things, the executive and the legislature also get it wrong.”

Asked about the controversial Finance Ministry’s note regarding Home Minister P Chidambaram’s stand on the 2G spectrum allocation issue when he was the Finance Minister, Khurshid said, “Even the worst interpretation of that document does not drag in the then FM.”

2 Responses

The Learned Law Minster wants investments by freeing thugs who are behind bar. Such Logic is un-understandable. If 2G accused were to bring investments in India then we do not want such investors. We have better examples to quote for investment in India like Narayana Murtys, and other honest people who are trend setter. Law Minster must exercise self restraint while commenting about his colleagues in jail. Its for the courts to decide who should be granted bail.

It’s difficult for us to make out from the stories circulated by media as to whether one is guilty or innocent. Versions of the investigating agencies are not always true and free of political influence. Therefore we can not and should not make an opinion as to whether one should get bail or not and leave it for court to decide.

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